Goodbye, Dell Streak: Our pocket tablet gets EOL'd

I received a copy of an internal email about this a while ago, and now it's official. The Dell Streak has been given EOL (end of life) status and is no longer available, at least in the Americas.

Sales were below the company's expectations in this region, and as you may have guessed when the pocket tablet became "temporarily out of stock" at Dell.com, all inventory was actually put on hold over a month ago. At that time, remaining units were screened and later delivered to fulfill outstanding orders and repairs. Once the entire stock was depleted, it was determined that the device would join the EOL graveyard and no longer be supported or available for purchase.

And sadly, today is that day.

Just yesterday, I requested "proof" that the tip I received more than a week ago about the Streak being EOL'd was legitimate, and this morning, my inbox was flooded with tips from readers alerting me to this page on Dell's website: http://www.dell.com/us/p/d/campaigns/streak5-eol.aspx (notice the "eol" in the URL?). Ask and you shall receive, I guess.

The Dell Streak may not have ever taken off in the mainstream market like we all hoped it would, but it's the reason StreakSmart exists today and why we're all here. And that's a sign of success to me.

Goodbye, Streak 5. It's been a great ride, indeed.

Thanks, anonymous tipster and everyone who sent in the URL!

About the Author

Jenn K. Lee is the founder of Pocketables. She loves gadgets the way most women love shoes and purses. The pieces in her tech wardrobe that go with everything are currently the Samsung Galaxy Note II, Sony Tablet P, and Nexus 7, but there are still a couple of vintage UMPCs/MIDs in the back of her closet.

I wonder how Dell will handle support for existing Dell Streak 5’s? If mine needed an RMA… I wonder if they have supply for those contracts that still require support?

Trevor Adams

Indeed, how does this bode for the Opus One?

Stephan Habicht

I am curious about this as well! I have a streak that is still under original warranty and I want to know if that will still be honoured.

Trevor Adams

Also, this doesn’t mean Streak 5 articles on Streak Smart will also be EOL’d any time soon… Does it? :(

Sparge

I’m happy with my Streak and I’ll continue to use it until it dies or something better comes along.

Dell produced a fantastic piece of equipment but marketed and supported it incompetently. Anyone who’s followed Dell over years knows they’ve done that before, so that was always a risk for the Streak. But it’s still sad.

I love this thing, it’s freaking amazing. Yes it has its quirks but what phone doesn’t?

Oh well, until next time.

Jonathan-Streaker

I really hope they don’t drop the Opus One plans…

Jon Jones

We all had to know this was coming. There was ZERO marketing for the streak and Dell more than likely wanted this phone to fail. They probably wanted to prove a point to investors that yes they could produce a quality piece of hardware along other Dell handsets that have since been phased out but that there main focus must be in the world of PC’s. And as we have seen over the past 24hrs there has been same great product releases and announcements, and even refreshes Ive read about on Engadget thats where they thrive.
I wanted a streak from the first Michael Dell pulled a cherry red one from his coat pocket and to this day I am unbelievable happy with it. This just comes as no surprise to me. Hopefully Dell comes harder next time around and pushes like crazy, but unless I personally see a new piece of hardware soon I will jump ship to the 5th Gen iPhone when it is released.

PS I will also be happy to do a full run down of comparisons between the new iPhone and the Streak when and if Apple ever releases the damn thing

The Streak 5 continues to be available in other markets, which suggests to me that demand for this form factor remains sufficiently strong in the rest of the world to continue production. And if the product continues to be manufactured, then it would make little sense to forgo the sales Dell could generate in North America. Therefore, the American EOL for the Streak 5 could simply be an EOL for the Streak brand, which we all know has become the poster child for “shoot-yourself-in-the-foot” product launch and marketing practices. So, we might just get to see an Opus One after all, but with branding that positions it far from any lingering odours generated by the Streak 5 debacle.

Anyway, that’s my wishful thinking for the day…

DrMark

It’s too bad Dell didn’t want to sell this product; it’s a great phone/mini tablet! Problem is, AT&t folks didn’t know what it was and didn’t sell it nor did Best Buy push it. Hard to sell it if no one knows about it – or at least, very few of us.

p51d007

Any screen less than 4.5″ will be rejected by me as a replacement. Even with it’s quirks, the streak has been the best multipurpose device I’ve owned.

oduck

So sad. I was at an amusement park yesterday taking a break reading a book on my Streak. I wouldn’t find reading enjoyable on a smaller device, and I wouldn’t be carrying a bigger device into an amusement park.

Sammy

Same here.. I use my Streak for Navigation a lot. Anything smaller than 4.5 will not do

Hi Jenn…..I’ve been a faithful follower of Streak 5 in my country – Colombia/Southamerica – and you can search my videos under the alias dumavil in YouTube, and for me is frankly outrageous that without more the company has given the final blow to the device which we have admired since its launch (on August 12, 2010), in fact I bought a second run recently, I also think it’s not fair to us customers worldwide, that everything that revolves around the Streak has been considered by the Dell as an experiment and it has been discontinued at any moment and we all stood with their mouths open. The only thing left for me to hope for is that you support our run for a long time ……. hopefully finally: Fuck in Hell Dell Inc. USA!!!!!

Wrong decision

They are not smart. There was more potential than IPhone has.
Soooo wrong decision!!!! Some other company will prove it.

X-Man

If Dell doesn’t follow-up with a new version, I hope that Samsung takes it as an opportunity to develop a 5-5.5 in. Phone/tablet. We all know they got excellent tablets and phones, now would be a great time to come out with the ultimate hybrid mobile device.

Wrong decision

If they had promoted it – it would sell better than iPhone and Samsung together. You will see it – Dell Streak 5 format is future.

JMorton

Um, I disagree – What about the Kin? It was clear MS did the minimum to get it to market and WANTED it to die.

CGI_Ram

Man… I hope the Opus is still a go. This pocket tablet is AWESOME!

p51d007

Perhaps some day, we’ll look back at the Streak, as the “Apple Newton” of its time ;)

Fortunately, I still see it on Dell Singapore. So I’m getting the accessories that I need before they take it all away.

Phogg

+1

I bought it for the screen size.
When it dies, I hope something else as large has hit the market. There are some 4.7 inch models, but I really don’t want to lose any real estate.

Shawn

I have 2, red and black. Love em’s
Until Nokia makes a bigger screen (bigger than 4″) or dell puts out a streak replacement … I’ll continue to use them.

Vipul Dugar

It is really sad to know That Dell Streak 5 has got a EOL status. I have one with me for about a year now.No Roots no Streakdroids for me just vanilla official build 2.2.2 baseband 351. Comparing with devices around there is nothing it cannot do—Skype video calls Pocketable 9.9MM HD video recording Multimedia playback(i’ve seen almost 30-35 movies on it)- rock player and mx video player suppoted. Most Importantly reading books watching movies while on a move is gr8 doesn’t strain your eyes and like other tablets you dont have to carry another carry case for it. I still believe it is the most sought after device with a unique 5″ form it just needs to be positioned well. I really hope they work hard on it and do not give up on the 5″ phone+tablet. Positive on the Opus one.

DaveBSC

Two things I think really hurt the Streak in the US. The first was incredibly poor support from AT&T, both in terms of marketing and getting updates out in any reasonable time frame.

The second was launching with 1.6. Reviews matter, and almost all of them complained about Donut holding the device back. With 2.2.2 (I particularly like build 347) the Streak is competitive with much newer phones, but none of the reviewers (other than CNET, I think) ever went back and re-tested the Streak with Froyo. Anandtech is still using a Streak with Donut in their benchmarks. Dell should’ve waited until their Eclair build was ready before launching.

I think the Streak should’ve been Dell’s Nexus One, sold online and in stores with an optional AT&T contract. There should’ve been no special crippled AT&T version – unsubsidized and unlocked only. Subsidized buyers made a deal with the devil to get their minimal at launch discount, and they lost big time. It should’ve had the stock Android experience, and should’ve been updated almost as fast as the Nexus phones get updates.

Other than the ability to play games like Dungeon Defenders, the Streak serves all of my needs better than even the new Tegra2 phones with qHD displays because almost all are still stuck at 4.3″. The Acer 4.8″ phone has a weird shape with a non-standard res, and presumably it will screw up a lot of apps. Samsung’s 4.5″ phones are still not quite big enough, but if there’s no Streak5 replacement in another six months, I’ll have to jump ship. Hopefully someone else will pick up the 5″, standard resolution format. I have no interest in Dell’s 7 or 10″ tablets that can’t make phone calls.

Here’s how to earn my business again Dell – a new ~5″ phone/tablet with at least HSPA+, powered by either Tegra or a dual core Snapdragon and Adreno 220. Tegra would be nice for the THD game support, but it’s not a deal breaker. A nice qHD screen. I don’t care about super duper AMOLED whatever, just make it big, with nice glass. If you MUST continue with Stage, figure out how to make them standard widgets that you can simply stick on the stock Android experience so I can get rid of them. I will be using ADW anyway. I’m much more interested in timely Android updates than your UI “ehancements”. Launch with AT LEAST 2.3.4, and have a plan to get Ice Cream Sandwich out on time, and deliver.

Graeme

I was a Streak fan from before it came out (Dell Mini 5! :) replaced my iPhone 3g with the Streak.

I do consider myself a fan now.
But I find myself increasingly looking to other android devices.

What do others find that really sticks them to the Streak? and not just A.n.other android device – I mean, one android is the same as another… right?

Help someone who has lost his way back to the Streaky Path of Righteousness ;)

I’m thinking they don’t. I’ve had a purchase order in for a month, and it’s been “In Production” the whole time. They haven’t even charged me yet. I found one on Amazon.com, and I am going to cancel my order from Dell as soon as their phone support opens up.

UnderDoc

I am glad I got the Streak but I don’t care if Dell want to sell it any more or not. The less people have it, the more unique I look when I pull the Streak out of my pocket to answer a call. I just hope Dell comes up with a worthy replacement in a year…

LungJian

The Kin’s death was more Verizon’s fault than MS’s. Verizon was supposed to provide an affordable data plan with high enough caps to support the Kin’s constant syncing of photos, socnets, etc, but by launch had changed their minds and decided that would devalue their overinflated data and SMS charges on other phones. MS was left holding the bag.

LungJian

AT&T didn’t support or sell it at all. They did, however, delay testing and probably forced the 1.6 launch. They also delayed certifying any build or device with 2.2 until they lost iPhone exclusivity. I almost jumped ship with my Android and 3 family iPhones over their short-sighted business decision, but I’ve had such horrible experiences with Verizon in the past, I stuck around.

Dell certainly screwed the pooch on marketing, but in retrospect, the US launch and update delays were out of their control. Still, with their horrible launches of the Inspiron Duo, Venue, and Venue Pro, they’ve shown that they want to be an innovator, but aren’t willing to spend the money to actually tell people about it.

Greg

so does this mean no update beyond 2.2?

LungJian

It’s pretty much the 5″ screen and thin form-factor for me. I’m actually glad Dell didn’t go with a higher-res screen – this kept the cost down, reduces battery drain, and helps the weak-sauce Adreno 200 GPU post decent framerates in games. Especially with StreakDroid. The decision to bond the LCD directly to the Gorilla Glass might have been bad for replacing either of those 2 pieces, but it makes for a bright, clear display that even does well in sunlight (other than the glare). The narrow bezel on the sides, combined with the tapered ends for easy pocket-sliding, make the Streak easy to use.

StreakDroid has been a huge part of the Streak’s success, making it fast, stable, and reliable when Dell wasn’t allowed to. Even without perfmod, my Quadrant score beats some newer phones with faster CPUs and better graphics. Dell’s 2.2 update was certainly better baked than the 1.6 build at launch, but it was obviously a case of too little, too late. And still not as good as StreakDroid 1.9.0 IMHO.

Nevertheless, Dell released a great piece of kit. It has been my phone, laptop, GPS, media player, and tablet for almost a year now. I’ll be starting a new job next week where I’ll be required to carry a company Blackberry (Verizon, ugh!) and laptop. I’ll still carry the Streak for GPS and to keep my personal communications off of company equipment, but I’ll miss not carrying 10 extra pounds of gear, power supplies, and cables.

Daye

I have been experiencing issues with my Dell Streak 5. I called Dell and they told me they would have to replace it. They also told me they were temporarily out of stock and that I should call back in exactly 2 weeks and they would be able to ship me a new one with no problems. Maybe they are just out of stock. Why else would he tell me that?

UnderDoc

Because he’s leaving for vacation in two weeks?

DaveBSC

There are still plenty of brand new, NAM Streaks on eBay. If Dell sells out of their warranty replacement stock, they should be giving people refunds so they can just buy a new one. This “call is back in a month” business is lame.

desmomb

I just got mine replaced under warranty (GPS quit working). Got the new one today, 8/12/2011. At least, I think it’s new. If it’s a refurb they did a good job because it looks like new.

desmomb

Just found the tag on the box. Yep, it’s a refurb.

klimis

they discontinue it before they announce opus one (streak2), else none will buy all the stock they have.

BUT since dj steve supports streak5 by making new roms, then it doesn’t matter if they take it off the market

Just because Dell EOL’d the Streak5 in US, doesn’t mean that it’s no longer a great device or that it can’t be used and enjoyed for some time to come…

I just checked and see that my Streak5 was shipped to me exactly a year ago (8/12/10)!!! I’ve used it daily since received and really enjoyed it more than most other devices I’ve had and I’ve had a lot and not many have stayed in my device stable this long….

As of now, quite content to keep using my Streak and updating to DJ_Steve’s next ROM (on 1.9.1 now…) when available….

It will take something quite compelling device-wise to get me to abandon the Streak….will be interesting to see how the device landscape looks a year from now….

VERY interesting! Finally Dell Streak gets a companion or rather competitor. I will closely observe the launch of that device. If it will run on Android, I’ll be able to develop an unlocker for it.

Tal

Latest news are now confusing. I guess that we will wait till Sep 2nd or so to know exactly what their line-up is.
Some reports say its 4.3″ some 5.29″. Will have to wait and see.

Tal

Just found reference to this 5.29″ as GT-I9920 instead. Its all guesses at this point. But if its true its going to be a no brainer.

Lovinmalamutes

You are right on! I had never heard of this Streak and no sales person ever mentioned it. I ended up getting a BlackBerry Curve. Had I known about the Streak I would have at least considered it, if not purchased it.
To bad it was such a secret!

SuperDM

In this case… keep DJ_Steve Roms !!! BUT….

I have not been able to install the new 1.9.1 =(

I have tried everything that I know… but it did not work.

I created the install.txt file, and I downloaded (in different ways) the update-1.9.1.zip file. I use StreakDroid and I face the error:

Meanwhile ….
Has anyone else noticed how the very average “niche” product Experia Play is getting a lot of TV time via Verizon? It’s not that great of a device at all but sadly … Dell & At&t failed to market the Streak while devices like the Experia Play will do ok because of a simple tactic called marketing. Anyone know what was At&t’s role anyway? Dell and Best Buy did all the sales…

Velcro

Sure, that’s an EASY fix. Get an iPad 2. It’s the one you want, the one everyone else is aiming for, but missing by a wide margin.

Joe

How can you do Skype video? Mine won’t. Is that because I’m on AT&T?

JMS

Well done, “Velcro” — this has to be THE most original piece of trolling EVER! I can only imagine the scope of the satirical prowess you think you have. I’m confident too that I can speak for all the regulars here that your incisive comments will prompt us all to run out straight away to drink the iKool-Aid, and then buy a product that has none of the characteristics we’ve come to cherish in our Streak 5. Personally, I cannot wait to make my first iPad-2 phone call, and then slip it back into my shirt/jacket/pants pocket.

I dropped my Streak 5 a few weeks ago and with none available I had to replace it with something else. I’ve been angry every since. I believe the little tablet’s demise is due to a lack of advertising by both Dell and AT&T. In the time that I carried my Streak 5 I only met one person who had ever heard of it.

I’m seriously sad.

Shawn

If anyone would like to buy a Streak 5 I have one. It’s an unused refurbished one. I have all of the accessories that come in the original new purchase box. Also unused. Let me know. [email protected]

I own a dell streak 5 and it stopped working a month ago :-(. Received a locked device instead of unlocked device. When I contacted them about this, they are asking me to wait till last week of September to know what can be done. Tethering option is not enable in a locked device. So, I can not used it :-(. This feature is very much needed for me when I travel. But, now I’m not sure If I get unlocked device or not. This is very depressing and unexpected from a reputed vendor. I’m now afraid of buying any tablet/phone from dell as they disappear from the production before we realize that they are in the market.

Southron

Wow, just got mine from E-bay in July. I think it is the perfect size cross between a tablet and a phone. My old eyes can see the screen and keyboard unlike the smaller units on the market.
And I thought I was staying “modern” by moving from my Nokia E-90 symbian 60 to an Android touch screen. Does anyone know who made the Streak 5 for DELL?

cnico

I actually had a sales rep in the Southlake TX Best Buy store tell me not to buy it! She said it was slow, then I cited processor specs… and she was like “oh”… and said people returned it because they weren’t happy with it!

Never in my life have I had a sales person tell me not to buy a device… she wasn’t pushing anything else… just had a clear bias against the Streak… idiot.

Bob

Y’All don’t get . Do You?

No one can even compare with the Apple product line and no, I don’t work for Apple.

music man

I agree with all users that like their dell streak 5, i like the screen size ive never had any problems with my phone and i do know in time the upgrade to ice cream sandwich will be there to. we must keep in mind dell streak upgraded to 2.2 and it works awesome. i dont thing because they discontinued the streak 5 that all uses will be forgotten. if you have a look at samsung they have come out with the samsung galaxy s2 same size screen and functions that are the exact same as dell streak. however that being said i perfer my streak 5 and I am sure its safe to say look after the phone it will last a long time.

musicman

Here is the thing.. everyone will say this phone is better then that phone but its all based upon the purchasers needs and wants from a mobile phone. I know many that have iphone and very unhappy with it as they found they are limited only to apple apps and products most apps have a cost they are not free like android.. for those dell streak 5 users note of interest.. dell streak has been recognized as a safe secure.. googles it and read up